The Junk Food Nutritionist

           After giving a presentation on diabetes, I was asked what the “healthiest” food to eat. Answer: There is no single healthiest food. What’s the healthy diet depends on your definition of healthy. This is different for everyone. That said, here are some recommendations for everyone… Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) AMDR is a fancy phrase for how much carbs, fat, and protein are recommended by the Institute of Medicine : 45-65% Calories from Carbohydrates 20-35% Calories from Fat 10-35% Calories from Protein (10-25% recommended by Australian Ministry of Health ) Because these nutrient recommendations are a range, everyone can get them differently. Some people do very well on a high carb diet with 65% calories from carbohydrates. Diabetics are often told to eat closer to 50% calories from carbs, and some people do well with only 45% calories from carbs. Why so many carbohydrates? What...

There are a lot of people today trying to sell their services as “nutrition professionals” but what do all the different terms mean? Nutritionist The term is not regulated. Many people, including myself, call themselves a nutritionist because they have a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Nutrition. But, I've also asked nutritionists and been told they took only 1 nutrition class. Feel free to ask a nutritionist about her education and decide for yourself if she has enough education. Nutrition Coach The term is not regulated. Many people using it have only taken a few nutrition classes. They may have a certificate from an online program, such as Precision Nutrition or Integrative Nutrition . This person often does not have a degree in nutrition. Nutrition Consultant This term is not regulated. Anyone may call himself/herself this.  Nutritional Therapist This term may be used by someone who took in-person or online classes through the Institute for Optim...

By now, I think most people have heard at least something about Omega-3s. But it’s good to get some information about them from a nutritionist (not your neighbor, yoga teacher, or cat sitter)… What are Omega-3s? A type of fat. Specifically, they are an unsaturated fat. You may have also heard of Omega-6s or Omega-9s. They are also unsaturated fats.  If you want to get into chemistry, Omega-3s have a double bond between two carbon atoms at the omega-3 position (which means that the third carbon from the end of the fat chain not attached to a glycerol backbone). Do I need Omega-3s? Yes!